Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike When It Comes To Romances In Books.

Dislikes

1. Cheating. I know this happens in real life but I don’t like it there either. Cheating is something that has always bothered me and I can’t stand it in any context no matter if it’s in real life or a book.

2. Insta-love. Insta-love is not a real thing so it shouldn’t be in books. There’s nothing realistic about it. And I know that not everything in books has to be realistic but you can’t just instantly fall in love with someone by looking at them… that’s called lust.

3. Non-consensual sex. There is nothing romantic about rape and I will not continue a book if there is anything resembling non-consensual sex. The exception to this is there was one book I recently read where the heroine was a stripper and a drug lord kidnapped her and tried to rape her. It wasn’t written in a way to glorify rape and that is something that happens in real life and the guy came in and beat the shit out of the drug lord so it ended well. While I know that not all situations have a happy ending, I will not read about it if it’s written in a way that romanticizes the action.

4. Guys being assholes. If a guy is constantly trying to control the girl, makes derogatory remarks about her clothes, or just in general treat women like crap, I’m not going to like him. So I guess I don’t like alpha males.

5. Weak Female Leads. It bothers me if a woman depends on a man for their happiness (Twilight). I’m sorry but no man (or woman for that matter) is worth you putting them on such a high pedestal that if they break up with you, you fall apart. I understand that when you love someone and they do something that hurts you it’s easy to fall apart. However, a girl should have enough self respect to pick herself back up. Also, no woman should just give in to whatever demands a man has for them. And a girl should be able to do things for herself and not need constant saving.

Likes

1. History. I absolutely love when a romance blooms between two people who have some sort of history whether it’s friends or people who met years before. It just makes for a good story.

2. Emotions. When you can read a book and feel all the emotions they are feeling, then you’re a ready a truly good book. Not many writers are able to convey emotions in such a way.

3. Well written sex scenes. I hate when sex scenes just fade to black. I do read erotica and I’m not talking about wanting all the dirty little details. I like when the author writes about all the emotions each person is feeling during the sex scenes more than all the sordid details.

4. Tropes. There’s just something about the romance between a rockstar guy and a normal girl, a billionaire and a poor girl, and brother’s best friend that just gets to me. I love these story lines but then I am a hopeless romantic.

5. Snarky banter. I’m not sure why I like snarky banter so much but I love it! There is something about someone being snarky in romance that I love. It could be because I tend to be that way…

What do you dislike/like about romances in books? Leave me the link to your Top Ten so I can visit you!